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previous--Endless Caverns, pg197
next--Barger Salpeter pg199
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IN AUNT NELLY'S HOLE
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Sunday, January 30, was just an ordinary Tech winter day. The sky was clear and the wind was calm, except for an occasional 60-mile per hour gust. There were just a few feet of snow on the ground and the temperature soared to an unbelievable plus five degrees. Some students may remember the date as the day before school closed for the first time this century.
There was no reason for the three Tech cavers, Trog Odite, Harry Treverse, and Rimston Poole, to feel any apprehension when they hiked out to the infamous Aunt Nelly's Hole, the only other cavern in southwest Virginia. As the three cavers approached the yawning abyss, they thought of the dangers which awaited then in the bottomless pit. A dank breeze issuing from the hole gave them their first omen of the tragedy that was to occur because, you see, all Tech cavers are afraid of the draft.
Tying one end of their rope securely to a nearby cow and tossing the free end into the hungry darkness, the cavers prepared to descend. But first they took the usual precaution of throwing a rock into the pit. This practice serves two purposes: first, by counting the number of seconds it takes for the rock to hit, a rough estimate can be made of the depth; and second, it gives the cavers a big thrill, especially when a big rock is used. On the day in question the rock apparently hit water as it made the typical sound which has caused cavers to become "spelunkers".
After "sliding down the rope" (caver language for rappelling) into the thirty-foot pit, and landing in a pile of trash, the cavers picked their way through the remains of thousands of dead beer cans that had lost their lives in the same perilous descent. Rubbing two sticks together, Trog was the first to ignite his crab-eyed light which burned grain alcohol (sole substance of cavers). After exploring for what seemed like minutes, Trog found himself in a tight crawlway which he knew no caver had been in before since there were no cuss words written on the walls. Trog was to later say, "I knew I was in an unexplored cave because of the sign scrawled in the mud: WELCOME TO THE VIRGIN PASSAGE signed by Stella Agmite".
The three cavers decided to hurry back to Tech and inform the officials of Trog's miraculous find, but then, it happened. On his way out of the crawlway Mr. Odite found he was wedged in the passage. After a night of long, hard work, rescuers from Radford Arsenal finally extricated Trog from his limestone trap. Trog was rushed to the VPI Infirmary where he received special treatment: two bottles of cough medicine, nasal spray, and some yellow pills, and was released in "fairly good condition".
Trog mentioned later that he and his two companions were members of the VPI Grotto, an underground movement at Tech. When asked to comment on the happenings a Grotto official said, "Forget it!" The interview caved-in after that. --TSR, THE VIRGINIA RETCH, VRI, Blackbyrd, VA, May 20, 1966
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In the BULLETIN OF THE NSS, Number 6, July 1944, a trip to Slusser's Cave[sic] is reported upon: "The entrance is a small diamond about 5 x 3 feet and goes straight down fifteen feet to a room about ten feet in diameter and about four feet high. The passage leads off to the east. This part of the passage is very rough, and the ceiling is only about eighteen inches high. Sixty feet from the entrance you come to the Trap, a water hole with about eight inches of head space above it and six feet long. There is a shelf or rock around the edge. It is possible to get through the Trap dry, but it isn't probable on the first try.
After you get through the Trap, the passage goes down to the left. This part of the passage is small and rough and requires sliding on your stomach. Eighty feet from the Trap the passage narrows down to about two feet, but the ceiling is about six feet high. From there on you can stand up and walk. About 900 feet from the entrance is a small room about eight feet in diameter. A passage goes up to the right. We did not survey this passage, but I guess we went up it 1000 feet to a dead end. We found some very white formations in this passage, and brought some back for the Geology Department. We also found some iron formations in the form of short stalactites; they crumbled easily and looked like plain rust.
The main passage continues down and to the SE until you get to the river. We chained down the river 400 feet until the water got within one foot of the ceiling. The river room gets small on each end, but is about fifty feet high in the center. There is some evidence of other passages entering at higher levels. We really haven't started to exhaust the possibilities of this cave. We have not struck any water over three feet deep yet. We have reason to believe this stream runs about seven miles; and as it runs about 1500 gallons per minute, we have hopes of getting all the way through."----Tommy Watts, Blacksburg, 1942.
One of the favorite eating places for VPI Grotto members during the 1960's was Pete's Drive In. Since so many cavers ate there after trips, a register book was placed behind the counter so that an accurate record could be entered about many trips. The following entries trace some of work done by grotto members:
"I've got my SPACE blanket; things should be cozy in Tazewell tonight." Vig [Tom vigour] 1/14/67.
"Everybody's looking for it; Nobody's found it, Trunk Channel, trunk channel. Mapping Slusser's again." Cletus Lee 1/21/67.
"Nobody believes us, but we really mapped it. Trunk Channel, trunk channel. We finally finished Slusser's Chapel. Mapped 1286 feet today bringing the total to 4965 feet." Cletus Lee 4/23/67.
"We thought we'd seen it, but there's more of it. Trunk channel, trunk channel. So the cave (and the song) finally ends at one mile, 78 feet and six inches! This makes Slusser's Chapelthe largest cave in Montgomery County, the 24th largest in Virginia, and the closest mile long cave to campus." R.E. Whittemore, 5/13/67.--- THE TECH TROGLODYTE, Fall 1968.
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previous--Endless Caverns, pg197
next--Barger Salpeter pg199
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